Clearlake Boss’ $3.9 Billion Baseball Deal Sparks Investor Angst

Some of Clearlake Capital Group’s largest investors are growing increasingly concerned about how much time the company’s co-founders are spending on sports investments as they’ve struggled to complete the fundraising for the private equity firm’s latest flagship fund.

One of Clearlake’s co-founders — Behdad Eghbali — has been spending what some investors described as a disproportionate amount of time on the firm’s investment in Chelsea Football Club in recent months. Now, co-founder José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones are nearing a record $3.9 billion deal to acquire Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres.

Petco Park prior to a game between the San Diego Padres and the Detroit Tigers in San Diego.

Photographer: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

That personal investment ...